THE INVISIBLE MAN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

The Charge

The Official: "An Invisible Man? We have an Invisible Man working for
us? I haven't seen him."

Opening Statement

This Sci-Fi Channel original series, which began airing in 2000 and ended
after its second season in 2002, had some diehard fans, but not enough of them
to keep the show from getting pulled. The first season has finally made its way
to DVD. With the endless wave of superhero-related things in the cinema and on
television, it's a good time to revisit the series.

Facts of the Case

Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca, Madison) is a professional thief.
Unfortunately for him, he's not a very good thief. He gets captured time after
time, and finally he is sentenced to life in prison. The end.

Well, not really. Darien is given a second chance at life when his brother
pays him a visit, offering him a deal. If Darien will agree to participate as a
test subject in a secret government project, he will get a full pardon. Darien
agrees, but isn't too thrilled when he discovers that he is going to have to
undergo a very risky surgery. The operation involves planting a
"Quicksilver" gland in Darien's brain, which will give Darien the
ability to become invisible. However, there's a catch: Darien can only spend a
certain amount of time being invisible. After a while, he will enter
"Quicksilver madness," a condition which causes Darien to go crazy and
try to kill and/or rape people.

The only way Darien can prevent Quicksilver madness is to get a shot of
antidote on a regular basis. This presents Darien's new problem: a secret
government agency is the only group with access to the antidote. So, they
arrange a deal with Darien. He works for them as a secret agent, and they
provide him with medical care for his complicated new condition. The one
providing the shots is a lady simply named The Keeper (Shannon Kenny, 7th
Heaven). The one calling the shots is named The Official (Eddie Jones,
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman). The one taking a lot of
shots...oh, this is silly. Darien's partner is a grumpy guy named Bobby Hobbs
(Paul Ben-Victor, The Wire). These three, and a whole lot of other
people, have one person on their mind at all times: The Invisible
Man.

The Invisible Man: The Complete First Season has 23 episodes spread
across five discs, as follows:

Disc One * "The Invisible Man -- Parts 1 & 2":
The two-hour pilot episode. A desperate thief, Darien, is convinced by his
brother to participate in a top-secret experiment in order to get his sentence
overturned.

* "The Catevari": Darien is assigned to protect a senator from a
man who is truly lethal to the touch, but his Quicksilver madness is both a
blessing and a curse in subduing the "ultimate warrior."

* "Ralph": Invisibility has its uses when Darien takes on the role
of an "invisible friend" for a little girl who has witnessed a
horrific murder.

* "Tiresias": A phony spiritualist has his clients killing
themselves in order to avoid their doomed destinies, but Darien thinks there
might be more to the prophecies than meets the eye.

Disc Two * "Impetus": The Agency has a past it wants
to keep hidden when Darien learns about another patient who has a genetically
engineered disease that is aging her into an early grave.

* "The Devil You Know": A hostile takeover of the Agency puts the
Official behind bars for murder, and Darien is faced with a life-or-death
decision with a new boss he can't completely trust.

* "Liberty and Larceny": Darien's criminal past comes to haunt him
when he comes face-to-face with a brilliant safecracker who needs his assistance
for one last treacherous job.

* "The Value of Secrets": The theft of a quantum physics
experiment has Darien thrown for a loop when he meets the gorgeous scientist who
just wants to continue her vital research on alternate universes.

* "Separation Anxiety": Old relationships are put to the test when
Hobbes suspects that his ex-wife may be marrying a dangerous weapons thief, and
it's up to Darien to set the truth straight.

Disc Three * "It Hurts When You Do This": The
sinister side of science is brought to light when Darien and Hobbes encounter a
devious neurosurgeon who uses homeless people for brain harvesting.

* "The Other Invisible Man": The past rises up with a vengeance
when Darien sees the specter of another man who underwent the invisibility
experiment before him -- with deadly consequences.

* "Reunion": Darien learns that his brother Kevin may still be
alive and returns to their hometown to find him -- and the truth about what
really happened.

* "Cat and Mouse": Unable to create their own methods for
achieving invisibility, the Chinese government schemes to steal the secret of
the Quicksilver formula.

* "Beholder": Hobbes and Darien confront a ghoulish hit man who
blinds any witnesses to the killings as a way of protecting his identity.

Disc Four * "Ghost of a Chance": The world of
politics becomes even more bizarre when Darien impersonates a ghost in order to
convince a prime minister to vote against a dangerous defense weapon.

* "Flowers for Hobbes": After he is accidentally injected with a
retrovirus, Hobbes' intelligence level skyrockets -- but at what cost?

* "Perchance to Dream": Brilliant but corrupt computer whizzes are
turning unsuspecting victims into ruthless assassins, but this case is personal,
as it involves The Keeper.

* "Frozen in Time": The inventor of the quantum computer tells
Darien that renowned scientists have been disappearing without a trace -- and
she believes she's next!

* "Diseased": The partners take on their nemesis, Arnaud, who has
a new ruthless plan to steal the Quicksilver gland from Darien's brain.

Disc Five * "The Lesser Evil": Darien's loyalties are
tested when Allianora, the woman in black, tells him that the Agency is planning
to kill him and urges him to join her mysterious organization.

* "Money for Nothing (Part 1)": South of the border is where the
Official, the Keeper, Hobbes, and Darien plan to take down Arnaud's casino, but
their plan goes awry when the Invisible Man makes five million dollars
disappear.

* "It's a Small World": Responding to a security leak, the
Chrysalis organization implants a bug into Darien and is able to monitor his
every move.

The Evidence

There are a lot of superhero movies these days, and some superhero television
shows as well. By this point, the average viewer knows all the clichés,
formulas, and standard checkpoints of superhero outings. The bad news is that
The Invisible Man follows the very plotlines and formulas we expect it to
take. The good news is that the show adheres to convention in a very polished,
engaging, humorous, and (sometimes) smart manner. Much like the recent CW show
Reaper, The Invisible Man presents us with a hero that blends the
expected brooding and sulking with caustic humor.

Though one might be tempted to call star Vincent Ventresca a poor man's mix
of Conan O'Brien and Ioan Gruffud (and believe me, I would never stoop to such
statements), he really does manage to create an interesting lead character.
However, the primary reason the show works so well is the very fine supporting
cast. Paul Ben-Victor is quite funny and likeable as Darien's balding,
ever-underappreciated partner, and Shannon Kenny is nothing short of charming as
The Keeper. Many of my favorite moments in the show involved the playful
dialogue scenes between Eddie Jones and Mike McCafferty (who plays The
Official's right hand man, named Eberts).

The special effects and action sequences are handled with surprisingly slick
and professional expertise, particularly considering that this show didn't have
the budget that a network show might have had. The series originally aired on
the Sci-Fi Channel, and as such, The Invisible Man almost always attempts
to provide as reasonable a scientific explanation as possible for all the
ridiculously silly things that happen over the course of the show. It never
takes itself too seriously, but at the same time, it does attempt to seem as
credible as possible for a show called The Invisible Man.

In addition, when the show is at its very best, it is quite
thought-provoking. One of my favorite episodes is "Flowers for
Hobbes," which imagines what it might be like if someone were to have
essentially unlimited intelligence. If ignorance is bliss, then what is having a
supreme deal of knowledge? Would having the ability to know all the secrets of
the world be something far too depressing for the human mind to handle? It's
some rather compelling stuff, and such conversation-inspiring episodes appear on
a pretty regular basis.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

On the other hand, there are certainly more than a few weak episodes here.
Most of the shows centered on Darien's Quicksilver madness tend to be either
dull or preposterous. The primary villain of the series, a smarmy fellow named
Arnaud, lacks the compelling qualities required of a recurring character, and
the very odd power given to another "mutant" character seems to be one
of the worst ideas in the history of expensive government experiments. Even the
worst episodes are watchable, but there are a few moments that may make you
cringe. The most egregious moment is an episode with a "fan-selected"
ending, giving the show a very unfortunate Choose Your Own Adventure
vibe.

Also, I should make special mention of the music in the show. It's
absolutely atrocious. The screeching techno theme has got to be one of the most
irritating television themes ever written, and the equally techno-driven episode
scores by Kevin Kiner add no dramatic aid to the proceedings. Each episode would
probably be a good 10% better if it had been scored in a more effective dramatic
manner by someone like, say, Michael Giacchino (you may be familiar with his
work on Alias and Lost). Oh, well. If you like your shows to be
scored with a mix of loud drum machines and grating screeching noises, here you
go.

Video quality is not wonderful on the show, it look like it could easily be
a decade older than it is. Picture is pretty flat, and there are some minor
scratches here and there. Additionally, with almost four hours of content on
each disc, compression is an issue. Sound is okay, the Dolby Digital 2.0 track
works just fine. Extras are pretty slim, as well. There's a commentary on the
pilot episode featuring series creator Matt Greenberg, Director Breck Eisner,
and star Vincent Ventresca. It's a pretty engaging track, talking about the
ideas behind the creation of the show. Another ten-minute interview with
Greenberg offers more of the same. Strangely, a "bonus episode" from
Season Two is also included, called "Legends." Are they not planning
to release Season Two on DVD? If so, why bother including this episode here? I
won't complain about it, but it does seem quite peculiar, and will be rather
pointless once the second (and sadly, final) season of the show is released.

Closing Statement

Despite some flaws, this is a solid show that's well worth checking out.
Compared to the generally humorless and self-important material in this vein out
there these days (see Bionic Woman), this feels like a breath of fresh
air.

The Verdict

The prosecution's key witness vanished into thin air, so I have no choice but
to declare The Invisible Man not guilty.